


Hope

by reyloise



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Blood Loss, F/M, Heavy Angst, Pregnancy, pregnancy gone wrong, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-21 14:35:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20695157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reyloise/pseuds/reyloise
Summary: This one shot was inspired by @reylo_prompts on twitter: "Curious Cat Prompt: “Fluffy prompt: Ben holds his and Rey's baby for the first time.”Except I made it angst but with a fluffy-ish ending because I thrive off sad shit.Probably should be rated T but I went with M just to be on the safe sidebeta-d by the amazing Erulisse17





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much Erulisse17 for helping me out! You're an absolute angel!

Ben was panicking. 

Really it should have been Rey who was stressing, as she was the one about to have a baby. Contractions had started earlier that afternoon, but knowing that they still had hours to go, she had refused to go to the hospital. Even now, despite things picking up rather quickly, she was taking everything in stride, breathing deeply as she calmly walked around sorting everything to bring to the hospital 

Just as Ben rushed to open the front door, Rey asked, “Ben, do you want to think about putting some trousers on?”

“Huh?” Ben looked down and saw his bare legs, “Pants, right, okay,” he frantically grabbed the nearest jeans he could find and put them on and he headed for the door again.

Rey sighed, “How about some shoes?”

✧ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✧

As Ben pulled away from the house, he realized things were escalating when, in spite of her extremely high pain tolerance, Rey began to clench her fists with each contraction, “They’re about ten minutes apart now.” 

“Shit, Rey!” Ben exclaimed, “I knew we were cutting it close. I said-” 

“Not the fucking time right now, Benjamin!” Rey snapped, and Ben promptly shut up. They drove without a word for the next five minutes when Rey groaned, “Ben, I think my water just broke." 

Ben nearly swerved in shock, "Seriously!? I thought you were still 10 minutes apart!" 

"Would I lie about something like this?" Rey retorted, "How long until we're at the hospital?" 

"Maybe 2 minutes. Ah, shit. Can't you just cross your legs or something?" 

"It doesn't work like that, dumbass!" 

There was a beat before Ben heard Rey scream "BEN!" 

Ben quickly looked at his wife and just as they passed under a streetlamp, he saw her face pale as a sheet as she stared at her palm. A palm that was wet and coated with red. 

✧ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✧

Slamming the car to a stop in front of the hospital, Ben couldn’t care less about his highly illegal parking job. He was now trying to support his heavily pregnant wife who was getting weaker and weaker, losing colour as she lost more and more blood. 

A nurse in the atrium spotted the pair and as they stepped into the light, she saw the dangerously large patch of blood on the sobbing young woman’s pants. Yelling for other staff members, they swiftly brought along a gurney just as Rey collapsed. Everyone was frantically discussing the next steps, using medical terms that meant nothing to Ben. He managed to pick up two words though and he didn’t need to know anything about medicine to understand that a ‘placental abruption’ was dangerous. 

Ben desperately clutched his weak and pale wife’s hand, her face tear-stained, as she was wheeled to the operating room. She was barely conscious, but just before Ben had to stay behind, she used all her energy to give his hand a squeeze. All he could do was watch uselessly as her hand dropped limply off the side of the gurney. 

He couldn’t go with her, he couldn't be with Rey, he couldn't be there for their baby. As he stood helplessly outside the surgery doors, he couldn't hold back the tears anymore. His hand slammed into the wall as he let out a pained scream filled with rage, fear, and anguish. 

Sliding down the wall until he sat on the cold white floor, Ben didn’t know what to do. He hadn’t felt so alone and afraid since he was a boy. He needed someone, anyone. 

He pulled his phone out of his pocket with a trembling hand. Dialling a number he hadn’t called in a long time, Ben prayed to whatever force that was out there that they would pick up. Not two seconds passed before a voice he had been yearning to hear for goodness knows how long answered, “Ben!” 

He couldn’t get his voice to work until he heard his name repeated. 

“Dad,” his voice broke, “I-” 

“Ben?” Han’s voice instantly changed from joy to concern, “What’s happened?” 

“It’s Rey,” Ben replied tearfully, “She’s… she…” he struggled to get the words out, wishing that if they remained unsaid then it wouldn’t be true, “Rey was bleeding. A lot. We were in the car and she screamed and now we’re at the hospital. They’ve taken her away. I don’t.. I don’t know what to do. There was so much blood. The baby-” he broke down. 

“Which hospital are you at?” Han demanded, not unkindly. 

Ben’s mind was foggy, he could barely think straight. Managing to spit out the name of the hospital, the rest of the conversation passed in a daze and before he knew it the call was ended. He stared at the clock on the wall across from him as the minutes ticked by painfully. 9:30… 9:31… 9:32. After what seemed like hours, when in truth only five minutes had passed since the call, a nurse approached Ben softly. Kneeling on the floor as well, she looked at him with compassion. 

“Are you Ben Solo?” she asked gently. He nodded and she continued, “Your wife will be in surgery for a while, would you like to sit somewhere more comfortable?” 

“No, I’m staying here,” he replied, “I want- I want to be right here.” 

“Would you like me to bring you something? Some water, perhaps?” 

Ben shook his head again, “Can you just leave me alone, please?” 

The nurse stood up, “The nurses' station is just around the corner if you need anything,” and with that she walked away, her trainers making a slight squeaking noise with each step. 

✧ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✧

Han sprinted into the hospital with Leia in hot pursuit. They both looked a mess, the senator’s usually sleek and well put together hair pulled into a messy bun and her clothes haphazardly put on, Han’s shirt was inside out, but Ben’s parents didn’t care. Their son needed them and that meant dropping everything and running. They ignored the staff’s protests and managed to slip into the lift just before its doors closed. Ben had mentioned something about being on the fourth floor and so the two attempted to find their way through the labyrinth of off white walls and fluorescent lights. They skidded to a halt as the turned a corner and saw their son slumped down on the ground. He didn’t notice them until they stood right in front of him. He looked up with red-rimmed eyes and Han and Leia both dropped to their knees and pulled Ben into a tight embrace as he broke down in their arms. The three of them sat together, arms wrapped around each other as Leia stroked her son’s hair, just as she did when he was young. 

✧ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✧

After a few hours, Leia went to the nurses' station to see if there was any news. She was told that they didn’t have any definite information and that they would have to wait for the surgeon to update them. Ben’s parents eventually coaxed him to walk with them to the waiting room and so there they sat, praying for good news. Ben’s breath would falter every time someone in a white coat would walk past but no one stopped for them. After what seemed an eternity, a doctor well into his seventies with a kind face asked for them to come with him into a more private room. 

He sat them down and chose his words carefully. He started with the good news that although Rey had haemorrhaged, she was alive and both her and the baby were going to recover nicely. The three of them let out sighs of relief as the surgeon went on to explain the bad news. 

Ben and Rey hadn’t really thought of having more children. They were so focused on making sure everything went well with their first that they never mentioned the subject with each other. They both knew that they wanted at least one child, but wanted to take things one step at a time. But the possibility of any more biological children was shot down when the doctor informed Ben that there was no choice but to have had a hysterectomy if Rey was to survive. Ben remained silent, absorbing all the information. 

✧ ✧ ✦ ✧ ✧

Hours later, Ben stood under the doorframe, unable to bring himself to move closer. Rey lay so still and pale that if he couldn’t see her chest softly rising and falling, he would have thought she was dead. Tubes leading from Rey’s hand connected up to a blood bag hanging from an IV stand next to the bed. Suddenly he heard a little whimper coming from a glass cot and without thinking he immediately stepped forward. 

He felt a lump in his throat as he lay his eyes on his daughter for the first time. Her little hand poked up out of her swaddle, tiny fingers flexing, her eyes sleepily half-open, as all Ben could do was stare and marvel at this life that he and Rey had created. 

“Hello, little one” he whispered tearfully, “you’re so beautiful.” 

He wanted so desperately to hold her in his arms. His whole world shifted at the sight of the small bundle before him. Ben had been certain he knew what love was, but this was unlike anything he had ever felt before. He had waited nine months to see the life that Rey and cared for and carried within her, and he would never be able to thank her enough for what she had given him. 

“Are you the father?” He heard the voice of a nurse say behind him, snapping him out of his reverie. 

“Yes,” he replied quickly. 

The nurse smiled, “I’m just going to do some checks and then you can hold her if you want.” 

After everything was completed, the nurse gently placed the baby in Ben’s waiting arms, “Do you know what you’re going to call her?” he asked. 

“Not yet,” Ben replied, as he cradled the delicate newborn, “We have a few ideas.” 

He politely chatted with the nurse before he left but his eyes remained on his child the entire time. Han and Leia were still at the hospital but decided to give Ben space whilst he visited Rey. After a few minutes, Ben heard Rey stirring. Looking up at his wife, he smiled as she drowsily watched the two of them. 

“How is she?’ she mumbled. 

Just hearing Rey’s voice again pushed him over the edge and finally all tears he had been holding back rolled down his cheeks. 

“She’s absolutely perfect,” he said, his voice wrought with emotion, “Rey, I thought you- they said you could have died, I didn’t know if-” 

Rey gave a weak smile and reached out her hand. He immediately drew near and held tight, determined to never let go, “Shh, Ben, I’m okay, everything is going to be fine.” 

Ben drew her hand up to his mouth and kissed it, never more frightened or thankful in his life. Just before Rey drifted off again, she whispered faintly, “I want her to be called Hope.” 

Ben smiled down at their baby, “Hope is perfect.”


End file.
